Not long after the explosion at its Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers nearly two months ago, BP told the press that the damaged offshore drilling unit was spewing out 1,000 barrels a day. Then, under pressure to confirm that number, BP said it might be 5,000 barrels a day. Over the past few weeks, that number has climbed, and climbed again. The latest evidence indicates that the offshore drilling unit is now gushing 40,000 barrels a day, and perhaps as many as 70,000 barrels a day. If we take the higher figure and subtract the 15,000 barrels that BP is recovering each day and multiply it by 57 days, that's more than 3 million barrels that has been drawn from the Earth and into the ocean. With 42 gallons in a barrel, that's more than 130,000,000 gallons spewing into one of the most fragile marine ecosystems in the world, with endangered turtles, recovering brown pelicans, dolphins, and countless other species.
The devastating Exxon Valdez spill -- the effects of which are still being felt today -- was 257,000 barrels, or 10,800,000 gallons. That spill tarred 1,300 miles of coastline and 11,000 square miles of ocean. To this day, experts report that you can dig just a little below the land surface in some areas, and still find oil now two decades later.
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